House Speaker: Wade Should Not Preside Over Cigna-Anthem Merger

Insurance Commissioner Katharine Wade is facing increased pressure as House Speaker Brendan Sharkey joined Republicans in calling for her to recuse herself as the key state regulator in the merger of Anthem and Cigna.

Others, including Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the Office of State Ethics, have said Wade is clear of any conflict of interest.

Wade, a former lobbyist for Cigna from 1992 to 2013 whose husband still works at the company, was challenged by several Republican legislators last fall as the Office of State Ethics reviewed whether there was a conflict in the $54 billion deal in which Anthem would acquire Cigna. Wade's been dealing with increased scrutiny with two advocacy groups calling for her recusal and recent media coverage.

Siding with the Republicans, who renewed their call for a recusal Friday, Sharkey said he had concerns about Wade's proceeding with her involvement.

"At a minimum, the commissioner should recuse herself from further involvement in the Cigna-Anthem merger review," Sharkey, who is not running for re-election, said. "Whether a potential conflict crosses a legal ethical line should not be the only factor here. Perception of a conflict is also an important part of the equation, and most onlookers, including consumer and health care advocates, following this issue all have the same perception."

Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano and Kevin Kelly, R-Stratford, ranking member of the insurance committee, also issued a statement Friday.

"If she had recused herself as we asked last year, she would not be facing calls for her resignation now," they said in a statement, referring to recent stories by the International Business Times and a Courant editorial. "Today we reemphasize our call for her to recuse herself from the merger in question," they said.

Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut sponsored an online petition a week ago that has garnered hundreds of signatures, spokeswoman Lynne Ide said. The group, along with the Connecticut Citizen Action Group, was also critical of Wade's approval of the Aetna-Humana merger without a public hearing.

Wade was appointed by Malloy and approved unanimously by the Senate in 2015. Malloy said there is no conflict of interest.

"Quite frankly we need a steady hand directing our approach to what is a very complicated issue," he said.

The Office of State Ethics cleared Wade of any conflict in a December ruling, which the office's executive director, Carol Carson, noted this week.

"The code of ethics does not speak of appearances of conflict, only actualities," Carson said. An example of an actual conflict of interest would be if Wade's husband had been promised a promotion if the merger went through — or if the couple knew his job would be eliminated because an Anthem employee would get his role in the combined company.

Wade issued a statement Friday that said: "I have been and will continue to be in consultation with the Office of State Ethics as necessary and appropriate."

She was also supported by the co-chair of the legislative insurance committee, Sen. Joe Crisco, D-Woodbridge.

"The state's independent ethics commission has already issued a decision in this matter, ruling that Commissioner Wade does not need to recuse herself. I would expect Commissioner Wade to continue to hold herself to the highest ethical standards in all of her duties as state insurance commissioner," he said.

Insurance committee Vice Chairman David Zoni, D-Southington, stopped short of calling for Wade to recuse herself, but said the history she has with Cigna "gives the perception of [a conflict of interest], whether it exists or not."

He said that as a public official, "You're torn between the optics of what it looks like, what the perception looks like, and doing your job. It's a judgment call."

Zoni said he wouldn't ask that Wade recuse herself, because, he said, "You have to make the call. Others can't do that for you."

But he said, "I don't know that I would've done that," referring to her decision to continue to oversee the merger.

Kelly said he doesn't have a position on the approval of the merger, just that the process can be trusted.

"We need to have the faith of the people of Connecticut that they can trust what's happening, that it can be done without bias," he said in an interview Thursday.